Steve Mollenkopf named as the next Qualcomm CEO

Qualcomm named its current president and COO Steve Mollenkopf as the next CEO. The board has “unanimously approved a succession plan for executive management of the company,” under which [plan] Mollenkopf will take the top job starting from March 4th, 2014.

He spent nearly 20 years at Qualcomm, previously leading its chipset unit. Mollenkopf was at the helm when this business made its $3.1 billion acquisition of Atheros, its largest deal to date.

The current CEO Paul Jacobs will take on the executive chairman position, helping “guide development of new technology and Qualcomm’s long-term opportunities”.

According to Bloomberg, Mollenkopf was on a list of “several choices under serious consideration” for the Microsoft CEO, highlighting Qualcomm’s strength in mobile. Perhaps the decision to make him a CEO came out of fear that Redmond giant will scoop him. Perhaps not… What do you think?